


The Prince's Guardian

by Kojikuzcoziggy



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 05:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15406074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kojikuzcoziggy/pseuds/Kojikuzcoziggy
Summary: A typical sleepless night, doing deeds for another which they shall never know of.





	The Prince's Guardian

The halls were dimly lit as per usual, the only source of light being the candles mounted on the walls. Where the light shone, it revealed cracks in the stone, and without the dryness of the air one would wonder why no plants grew. There were no windows in this area of the keep, deterring the sun’s rays and now the light of the moon. 

Knoll was met with a door, opened it without thought, and continued to walk as if it were never there. He allowed it to close behind him as he stepped into the room.

This room and the hallway prior were untouched by the pass of moon and sun alike. It was not only smaller but also far less grand than the main library. But the texts stashed away here were both elder and cryptic, hidden with the intent to never see the light of day nor night.

Shelves were flushed against the walls filled with books in all the wrong places. All sense of organization had been lost—books and papers littered the floor and were stacked upon a desk in groups of many, unevenly placed and some stacks looking ready to topple. 

Knoll approached the desk, footsteps muffled by the carpet once regal and red; the color had now faded and was stained with blotches of black ink. A small figure with bright hair was in a chair, face on a paper he had been writing, hair alarmingly close to a candle’s flame. Knoll lifted the other’s head with gentle hands, adjusting him in the chair to ensure he would not hurt his neck. 

Knoll withdrew his arms and stopped to stare at the prince for a moment; now was a time he could look at him without fear of being caught. With his eyes closed, it could be observed his eyelashes were long, long that they curled at the tips. His hair flared out to the sides and fell down as though it was a veil. Lyon’s eyes—now closed—were most beautiful, Knoll knew. They would shine even in the wake of a single flame.

He had done enough staring. Knoll’s eyes detached from the prince and gazed upon the desk, seeing a paper Lyon had been writing and a quill with drying ink. Before it was an open book. Knoll pushed a stack of books aside and pulled the paper to where he stood, the lit candle on his left. A corner of the paper almost touched the flame, and there was a tight feeling in his chest for a moment.

He watched the orange flame dance atop the melting wax, emitting a small light that was beautiful in the dark. That flame, next to the stack of books, could’ve spread through the room with ease. He wondered what he would do then. Extinguish the flame or take the prince to safety before attempting to quell it? It was one of those things one could never know until they needed to.

But he only watched it for a moment. He read through the paper to see what had been written and found that they were the steps for a new experiment. He referred to the open book; presumably, the notes written came from it. The book was not one with texts, but prose. Knoll picked it up and skimmed through it to find what Lyon had been looking for.

_After ascending the hill for three long days, he knocked on the door of the Wise. The Wise opened the door with a creak and asked him his tidings. He had foreseen tragedy that is to come, said he. The Wise stood for a moment in thought._

_“The future can be changed with consequence, or left to remain.”_

_He ignored the Wise and pressed on. “How do I prevent the flood to come?”_

_The Wise looked back with dark eyes and a gentle shake of the head, but responded, grimly, “It involves a sacrifice.”_

_“The loss of one life is as tragic as any other,” he acknowledged, “but the loss of many is more so. Detail this sacrifice, Wise one.”_

Knoll read, with tired eyes, the ritual’s process, not giving much thought to it. Bloody and whatnot, he found it similar to some of the experiments they had done before. It also seemed to be what Lyon had written down, nearly word-for-word. He glanced at the paper for a moment and confirmed this. Then back to the book.

_Satisfied with the answer, he traveled back down the hill and made his way back to town. But he did not stay to hear the Wise say —_

That was the end of the page, and Knoll turned it delicately. 

_— “What fate will change to cannot be controlled.”_

Knoll stared at these words, biting his lip as he thought about their meaning. Were the details of this ritual true, fate would change but almost certainly to something more disastrous. He lowered the book and looked back to the prince’s notes, which had begun to copy the Wise’s words. He wanted to perform this ritual.

Dark magic oft had consequences, but Knoll could not shake the bad feeling this book gave him. He didn’t want the prince to perform this ritual, but simply speaking out against it wouldn’t do a thing. Was it right of him to prevent the prince from doing this? Or was it selfish? 

If he thought any longer he would surely overthink it. Knoll closed the book and tucked it under his arm. He moved the stack of books back to where it was and picked up the small container of ink.

He carefully poured the liquid onto the paper and placed the container on its side as to fake a spill. After ensuring that all the words had been stained out, he stepped away from the desk. It was quite late, and perhaps the prince would forget what he had been writing. 

He wouldn’t destroy the book. He would simply place it on one of the room’s many shelves, in a fashion like that of the other books. So he did. With that, he was done here.

Knoll arrived back at the door and swung it open to let in the candlelight of the hallways. He used a spell to keep it open for a moment. Now that it was easier to see, he went back to the desk and blew out its candle.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally intended to be a multi-chapter fic, but a friend suggested I leave the first chapter as a standalone. So here it is! Thank you for reading!


End file.
